Ballarat officially has its very own phantom, but it was a moonwalk that led Josh Piterman to a life on stage.
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Piterman, who studied musical theatre at the then-University of Ballarat Arts Academy, has the iconic lead role in the Phantom of the Opera which opens in Melbourne later this month and is currently on stage at the Sydney Opera House.
His first taste of musical theatre came as a teenager when a teacher saw him "moonwalk" in the school cafeteria and put him in the school production.
After his first show he was hooked and less than two years later he moved to Ballarat to study full-time at the start of a career that has led him to one of the most coveted roles in musical theatre.
It's also the role that has taken him through one of the toughest periods of his life - the COVID pandemic, which decimated live theatre across the globe.
"It was such a heartbreaking experience. I was riding such a great high wave, enjoying my time in London and more than anything really loving playing the role and living out such a dream of performing it in the original production in the original theatre, Her Majesty's Theatre," he said.
"Literally two days before the production closed I was singing at (the now) King Charles' event, sharing a table with him, living this fantasy world and I guess when you climb Everest you have to get down somehow.
"I was pretty exhausted and depressed from it."
He spent the first half of the pandemic in London before returning to Australia where he was offered to reprise the role here.
But as new COVID-19 waves swept the globe, the Australian season was also delayed and he decided to focus on himself through reflection, meditation and becoming more self-aware, as well as running masterclasses and meditation courses.
He also did a regional tour of his own show, including a show at Piano Bar Ballarat in February.
The whole experience has given him a different perspective on the role of a lifetime.
"This show is so special to me and has, through the ups and downs of COVID, a really strong place in my heart and my psyche for more than three years now," Piterman said.
He had been playing the role of Phantom in London for six months and was about to sign on for another year when theatres closed their curtains and doors at the start of the pandemic.
"It was over three years ago I first performed it in London but Phantom of the Opera is a show I have loved for many years, a show I dreamed of. When I was studying in Ballarat, I always hoped it was a show I would maybe get to do and it was actually the first show I auditioned for after I graduated from Ballarat," he said.
"It's always been a role I really prized and revered and cared so much about and ... now to share it - not just with friends and family who are yet to see me perform the role but with Melbourne, it's amazing."
The Phantom of the Opera's season at the Sydney Opera House closes next week before the show reopens in Melbourne on October 30.
Sold-out audiences have been a feature of the Sydney run.
"There are so many shows on and so many people want to get out and experience what they missed, what live theatre brings, what it allows of us and how integral it is to being human. To be part of the sort of renaissance that live entertainment has enjoyed is really special.
"That's why Phantom has been sold out. People go oh my god, not only is this live theatre, it's one of the greatest shows of all time coming off the back of something really crap we've all been through so they want to get out and experience the best of what live entertainment is."
Piterman's first experience on stage, in his school production, changed the path of his life ... one that it seems was destined to be on stage.
"It was the openness the comradeship and I think it was also doing something really scary - stepping front and centre and singing a song in front of classmates, parents and everyone else in the audience.
"It evoked a lot of fear and vulnerability and I really enjoyed that."
After his stage debut he became obsessed with musical theatre, particularly Phantom and Les Miserables which he played on repeat, before moving on to Wicked, Hairspray and other shows, and classical music.
"Then there was the journey of working out one's voice and getting in to the nitty gritty of technique, which is constantly evolving as your voice changes," Piterman said.
"I feel a bit like my career now is destiny. I have seen ear, nose and throat, and voice specialists, and helped a speech pathologist with her PhD thesis - part of which was having a scope looking down my vocal cords. She came back and said 'I'm glad you chose to do what you do because those (vocal) cords are made for singing with their shape'. Anyone can learn to sing to a degree, but to make a sound like that takes genetics.
"So hopefully I'm destined to do it for much longer, and destined to be the Phantom."
The-then University of Ballarat's Arts Academy was the only academy to offer him a place after school, and he believes that too was fate.
"I'm very grateful for that because that was exactly how it was supposed to go. I made life-long friends among those I studied with and lecturers of mine at the time.
"I learned so much during those years from 2004 to 2006 and it was what I needed because I had never done any real formal training so for 40 hours a week I was a sponge for all that new information, a blank canvas."
It was also the first time he had lived away from home and had to support himself.
"I had a part time job and worked and paid my way through three years of that, though my parents helped out where they could and were incredibly supportive. It was a huge life experience suddenly living out of home, having to cook and clean and study something that is already quite intense.
"It was huge and fantastic and if I could do it again, I would."
It also gave him a taste of the transient lifestyle of a performer, moving wherever the roles are.
"All I can do is try to do my best work which is what I focus on. Those opportunities present themselves in the time when they are supposed to present themselves," Piterman said.
"Of course I have an eye to the future but I love what I'm doing right now. It brings me so much contentment and joy and I know it does to a lot of other people - to the audience and everyone in the cast and company. It's a special role ... so I suck up as much as I can because it will have a use-by date. I won't get to play Phantom forever."
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The physical demands of performing eight shows a week means Piterman follows a strict routine to keep his voice and body in peak condition.
"Sadly the nature of the show and demands means I don't talk very much after a show so I say a lot of quick hellos at the stage door and only after the last show of the week do I go out.
"I try to get in to bed by 11.30pm or 12, and get up at 8ish to make sure I get eight hours sleep, I sleep with a humidifier on and before a show I warm up my voice gently throughout the day rather than a big warm up."
Meditation, yoga and time in nature also help keep him balanced.
"People who go to see show know to expect a certain standard and my job is to deliver that standard . They don't need to know what I do, they just want to hear Music of the Night performed very well. I respect that job and do everything I can to ensure that happens."
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